Before I started using "the other product", I used Eagle 1 Wet. I liked it, but noticed the same results...it doesn't last very long and it left "white residue" in the crevices...nice shine, though.
I've gone through a bunch of tire dressings. Last one was Meguiars Endurance. It does last longer than most, but it is a real pain to apply evenly because it's so thick. Dries quick, though.
This leaves me still searching for that "perfect" tire dressing.
Maybe the guy you spoke to never heard of this problem, but the guy who used the Eagle One Wet Tire Shine on his new 300M contacted them and they sent him a claim form, if I remember correctly. Then, they denied the claim.
Like I said, I don't know if Eagle One makes all different kinds of tire dressings, but I don't think he used the Concours line that you keep mentioning. He told me it was the name above that he used.
Point is- everyone should read the label carefully on ANY product before applying it to their cars. I would imagine any warning labels that are present would require a magnifying glass to read. I don't know if these products have to say that they contain silicone or not. I've never used it myself because I use the other product that has no silicone.
Tires vs other trim. I usually wind up replacing tires every 35-50k miles or every couple of years. Does silicone based dressings really attack and degrade the rubber in that time? Not so I could tell. By the time I could see any cracking or peeling it was time for new tires anyway and most of the deterioration was from road use or UV. Maybe if you get more life out of your tires there is another consideration. My concern is the buildup of the silicone oversray on brake components since there are so many disc brakes now a days. What I don't know is whether the silicone will burn off with brake application or buildup on the disc and pads dimenishing braking power. To be on the safe side I have forgone the high gloss tire look, which I prefer, for a more satiny look. For other trim/interior/door seals I certainly would not use a silicone based product because these would not get replaced. Even though one of the better products I've heard about (Vinylex by Lexol) does contain silicones. I've never gotten good results with water based tire dressings, they are either greasy or only last a day or two and then evaporate. I guess most anything is better than the diesel fuel we used in the old days to make rubber shine. Does anybody know a water based high gloss dressing (comparable to the Eagle 1 and Castrol commercials) for tires?
Which tire dressings do not have silicone? I have been using Armor All foam, and most recently Eagle One spray. If there is one on the market without silicone at a reasonable price I would like to give it a try.
BTW, I have a silver car and have had none of the stain problems with the Eagle One spray that were mentioned earlier.
Last month I brought Accord 00 (Golden color, metallic clear coat paint). This is my first car and hence doesn’t have much idea about proper car care. I have read through almost all non Z waxes stuff.
I went to few shops to look for car care products and was confused by so many brands and types available.
Today I went to Costco and brought a car kit for $19.99.It contains
Meguiras cleaner wax, car wash, natural shine (for vinyl and rubber), along with Eagle One A2Z wheel cleaner, glass cleaner and Proseries simple green cleaner/degreaser. Also in the pack is a wax pad, brush, mitt, towel and the bucket.
If the above stuff is not right , what should I get ? OR should I buy some additional things along with them. The products which I’m not comfortable in the kit are cleaner wax and wheel cleaner, also not sure of cleaner/degreaser.
I’m not sure if I got the right stuff and want your help. Also in the store was available Coral blue car wash and Meguiras gold liquid wax.
My requirement is that I want to wash car every 3-4 week and wax every 4-5 month.
What I understood about car care is first time I need to wash my car with water, then with mild car wash and then apply wax (do I need to polish also before waxing?) What about wheel cleaning and how often . Subsequent, I should wash my car with water and should wax when beading occurs.
Your suggestions and help appreciated about proper care and right products.
Eagles don't flock...you have to FIND them. Because that "other" product isn't available in stores does not mean it's too hard, too expensive, or no better than the easy to find products. You've read the non-other product posts...pose the same question on that topic.
I recall reading somewhere that it is not just having silicone that is bad, but the "kind" of silicone. I don't remember the details, but the jist of the article was that Vinylex overcame the problems of silicone while still using it.
For what it's worth, I get several months of good tire looks and protection with Vinylex. And it doesn't spin off.
First, contratulations on your new Accord. I also have a new black Eldorado less than 2 months old.
Regarding the Costco car care kit, I passed it up. As you stated there is no plain polish or wax, but only a cleaner wax. There is no way that I would ever use cleaner wax on my new clear coat finish. You have 3 choices regarding car polish. Wax (preferably carnuba), a polymer polish, or an acrylic polish. There may be other choices that I'm not aware of.
Carnuba wax will give your car great protection and a nice shine. The polymer products will give your car that deep wet shine look and should last longer than carnuba wax. The acrylic products will give you a good shine also and last a long time. Using acrylic is like coating your car in a thin sheet of plastic. Since my Eldorado was new, I chose not to use acrylic since I had a new clearcoat. I chose to use a good carnuba wax. A good polymer pruduct is OK also.
My question to you would be this. Does your metallic gold paint have a deep shine? Can you see your face in it? Some colors and especially most metallics will never have a deep shine. If this is the case with your car then go for protection over high gloss. If your car was red, black, dark green or dark blue then I personally would go for the shine.
Perhaps - BRETFRAZ - could give you a more professional answer.
There are several non-silicone tire dressings available:
Zymol Tyre: Very expensive (15-20 dollars a bottle-although a little goes a long way.) All natural ingredients-last about a week or two-makes the tires look new rather than the shiney look. IF you use this stuff make sure to follow the instructions on the bottle, and apply it with a sponge, rather than a cloth. Pretty much only available on-line.
303 Aerospace Protectant: Just bought some of this stuff-haven't had a chance to use it yet. Have read some very good reviews of it at various websites. Supposed to be a polymer-based substance with no silicone oils. Can be used on interior vinyl, exterior vinyl and tires. You can check out their website to find a local retailer
One Grand ERV Dressing: Never have used it but have used other One Grand products such as Blitz wax and Omega Glaze and they are excellent.
Black Again: Have used this stuff for about a year on the black exterior trim on my car. Contains no silicone and works great but unfortunately the company that makes it (Rhino Inductries) has gone out of business (Which is why I save it for the trim) Have still seen it sold online, however.
I'd wonder about using the A2Z wheel cleaner. I'm not familar with that exact product-but I believe a lot of the Eagle One products are a mild solutions of acid-may not be the best things for your wheels (among other things) over the long run.
I've found that there is really no easy way to clean wheels-the spray on hose off stuff are solvents. On the other hand, The milder wheel cleaners such as P21S or Zymol help a little-but you still have get in every little crevice with a sponge to get them clean. Keeping the wheels waxed is your best bet-makes it easier to clean. And if you can-use a separate mitt or sponge to clean your wheels than you would use on the rest of your cars's body
Also---remember there are a lot of fine companies making high quality car care products-One Grand, Finish First, 3M, Zymol, P21S, Klasse, Meguiars, Pinnacle, Surluster and others. It's a good idea to investigate all options. Hotrod20 gave you good advice, IMHO.
What you got at Costco was not bad, but you need to know how to use them. A cleaner-wax takes a little of your paint off each time. Since you have a new car, this is not necessary, HOWEVER - it may be OK the first time to take out any slight scratches or to smooth any "orange peel". Better would be to use a "glaze", a very fine polishing compound, and then a plain wax after that. An orbital waxer makes the job much easier. I have found even the best waxes last only about 2-3 months at best, and have switched to a polymer finish that should be good for 6 months at least and provides a deep gloss that waxes cannot give. If you wax the wheels thoroughly, you will not need to use the wheel cleaner very often, it can be very caustic. The car washes are great - do NOT EVER use a household detergent on your car, except to take off old wax just before re-waxing, and then use blue Dawn.
You should also consider "claying" your car before it's first wax. This really makes a difference, even on a new car. You can read the whole story at www.erazer.com, and there are many good brands of clay.
I believe that you should re-consider washing your car more often. After 4-5 weeks, there will be a lot of crap sitting on your paint, including abrasives that can scratch and pollutants that can stain. If you get in the habit of washing your car every week, it goes really fast, and is not a lot of work. If it gets too dirty, you hesitate, and put it off even longer!
Get in the habit of washing it once a week. Once you do, you'll discover several things such as:
1. People will comment on how nice your car looks 2. You will enjoy those comments 3. You will smile as you approach a nice, clean, shiny car. 4. It's not hard to keep it clean 5. Your "wax" will last longer 6. Your car will go faster 7. Your car will run smoother 8. Your car will get better gas mileage
Okay, so 6,7, and 8 are purely subjective (although you really might see a slight improvement in mileage). Bottm line - it's not hard to do and the benifits far outweigh the negatives of weekly washing.
In the past, I have noticed that the chemical wheel cleaners are nothing but bad news for wheels. I have not used all of them, so some might be less harmful than others. My advice is to clean the wheels with a wet rag. I have cleaned the wheels on my past 3 cars with a wet rag (you can use regular car-cleaning soap if you want, buit there really is no need) with excellent results. I try to was my car bi-weekly, but sometimes (in the winter) it will be a month or so before I get around to it. The brake dust and other dirt wipe right off. Sometimes I use bug and tar remover for the road tar, but other than that, no cleaners. This works great and the wheels shine like they were new.
Thanks for all the reply. So my Costco kit goes back where it belongs.
Hotrod20 :- I think the paint doesn’t hv too much of shininess, the one in which u can see u face. So I should go for protection than look as u said.
Jster : Even I’m not keen on using a2z on my alloy wheels, I feel with proper washing may be I don’t need to clean wheel with some abrasive stuff or so.
Automophile & pjyoung : well I would love to wash my car more often but last week when I washed my car it took me 30 min to wash and 90 to dry so I was a bit hesitant. What’s the best method to dry the car, 100 % cotton towel or some other specialized product ?
What should I buy now a clay, a car wash, a polish and a wax.
"last week when I washed my car it took me 30 min to wash and 90 to dry so I was a bit hesitant."
WOW! WHAT are you washing? A Chevy Suburban? Something is wrong here if it takes you this long to wash and dry. I can wash my 300M in less than 30 minutes. As for drying, that only takes me minutes. First of all, I must say that I use that other product that can't be mentioned here. That said, I have no clue if that makes my washing and drying times any faster except that I don't have to spend any time rubbing crap off the car because nothing sticks to it. However, after washing, I take the nozzle off of the hose and run it over the car to get rid of the excess water. After that, I take a quick ride around the block to get the "gallons" of water out of the mirrors and other hidden places. By the time I'm back in my driveway, there is very little water left to wipe off. I do use a white, 100% cotton towel made in the USA to do this last step. If you have a wet/dry vac, most can be used as a blower to get the excess water off too.
IF I remember correctly, you said that you did not wash the car very often. THAT might be the problem because you have more work to do to get the dirt off.
I'm no expert here, but if it takes you this long to wash the car, something is wrong. I have no regular schedule to wash my car. I wash it when it's dirty. Unless I've been in stormy weather, most times I can just hose off the car to get the dust off and then dry it. This past Saturday I washed my car. Sunday night, when I was out, it rained AGAIN here in CT. I put the car in the garage that night. Monday morning when I took it out of the garage, it looked like I had just washed it. Last night I had to leave the car outside because they are doing some work in my neighborhood which is generating lots of dust! Despite this, the car looks great.
I'm going to take a picture right now and post it here- if I can remember how- so that you can see for yourself what it looks like. Stay tuned.
90 minutes to dry? You must be using a washcloth or doing a REALLY great job! Seriously, drying should take no more than 10 minutes.
AS fastdriver said, when done rinsing, you can use the open hose end or a low pressure "fan spray" to "push" a wall of water off the car, and it takes 90% of the water with it. I then use a nice cotton bath towel to catch the remaining drops and do inside the doors, etc. 10 minutes - MAX! Windows first, then the top, hood amd trunk, then the sides and wheels.
I do 2 cars every Sunday - vacuum, windows, Pledge the interior wood and vinyl, wash and dry and treat the tires in 60-90 minutes. If you do it regularly, and have a regular pattern, it goes fast and the car always looks good!
And - as all of us fanatics know - a clean car runs better!
I wash my new Eldorado once a week especially since it is black and I can see every spec of dust. It takes me longer than most to wash and dry. I can't use a hose (condo rules). I soap down the car first using a bucket and a wash mitt. Next I rinse out the bucket and toss 2 buckets of clean water over and around the car. (If I were allowed to use a hose, I would use less than 2 large buckets of water to rinse. I then dry with a large cotton towel including raising the hood, trunk lid, and opening both doors. The hardest part to dry is the bottom that curves under the car. I am not a young man anymore. Next I go over the car with a miracle towel which picks up any lint and new dust. Next I use Pinnacle wax spray if not waxing and wipe it down. The wax spray job doesn't take too long. Total time including fetching all the water - about 60 minutes.
I like the idea about taking the car out for a fast spin to get it dry. This should save some time. Long before the California water wand came about, my neighbor used to use a window squeegee to dry his car.
Well it did took me a lot of time to dry my car and I can sum up it in few words "lack of experience".
This is my first car (it was my first wash :-)and still to learn the tips and tricks of the car care.
With all ur inputs, I hope I will reduce the time drastically next time and plan to wash the car every week or 10 days.
Fastdriver : I liked ur idea of taking car for a block ride to get rid of hidden water bcos when I dryed my car and drove back to carport, I was surprised to see water coming out from every nook and corner and i hv dry again.
I'm planning to buy coral car wash(my friend swear by it) and Meguiar's gold class wax( or nufinsh ?). Do I need to get glaze, should I go for Meguiar's also.
I dont plan to use the clay right now, may be after 6 month or so.
what should be the sequence dawn, glaze, wax. And subsequently car wash and wax as reqd ?
There are several missing posts above, starting at #340. There was a personal disagreement between some individuals who could not abide by the Edmunds Town Hall User Agreement, regarding "civil and respectful discourse". The posts have been removed and I apologize to any of you who tried to inject a calming influence on the discussion.
I own a silver colored mitsubishi Mirage that has now lived through 5 harsh Minnesota, salt and ice covered winters, and the car will now be in storage for most of the winter while I am at college. I'd like to know whah I should do to prepare the car, and more specifically the paint, for storage. It will be in a non-climate controled envirotment, and when it is used, will get a lot of miles on salt covered roads with little oppertunity to wash or wax it. Thanks in advance!
Your advice is right on about protecting the car for winter. The salt issue is a tough one - leaving the salt on for extended periods is Begging for trouble!
However, I must be sure that your point about polymers is clarified- althought the initial purchase price may be higher than waxes in general, since they go much farther, the cost per application is the same or perhaps less than wax, and is certainly less per year, since they last longer.
A little off topic, but lots of experience in this forum, maybe someone can help. My dealer sticker came off, leaving the sticky residue on the car. Tried gently rubbing it off, but it left the are hazy. Any suggestions?
Sorry if someone has asked you this question before...but, would like to know what combo of polish/wax you are currently recommending? I know there are MANY very good products out there, with each making various superiority claims...especially the product in the other forum...which makes me wonder if one product can really be that much better, or are people jus tired of waxing every 2-3 months? Anyways, I prefer to stick with a "traditional" polish/wax combo for now. Do you apply in up/down or circular motions? Which internet car care companies have you had good dealings with? Thanks in advance for your opinions, I'm jus graduating from the Consumer Reports's long time recommendation of Nu Finish.
Thanx for all the useful info. I have learned a lot from this forum and also the one on: autosupermart.com I was very ignorant prior to reading through these forums...I always thought that Consumer Reports was the best place for car wax info...I was wrong. Although it provides some good background, I appreciate advice from actual detailers in the field who have tried various products...I guess every "wax" company is goin to say their product is the "best", so they are no help for unbiased info. Also, I don't know if I can believe advice given from someone selling the product! as is the case on the "other" forum. Thanks again for the advice... Vern
This is what I expect from someone making comments on a product, who has any kind of financial interest in that product...they announce this fact up front...as many medical speakers are required to do today, PRIOR to their lecture.
But in fairness, vernlew, you have to acknowledge that there are lots of other posters there who don't have anything to do with selling this product.
And again in fairness, if you have been reading that topic which it sounds like you have, you must realize that the poster you are speaking of handled the situation in such a way, before AND after anyone knew he was a distributor, by making it impossible to realize any financial gain from his membership in Town Hall.
My thoughts here have nothing to do with trying to convince you to use one product or another, I'm just commenting on how I saw the recent situation in that topic.
Pat Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
Pat, I am just stating my opinion on the situation AS I SEE IT...you have your opinions, posted many times... why do you feel it is necessary to comment on my comment? I have read many posts, many I think are ridiculous, many very informative...but, I don't think they necessarily require my response...BUT anytime someone has a financial interest in a product...how can they render an unbiased opinion about it?
Thank you for the information...this is all I really want, subjective and OBJECTIVE data, comparing ALL wax products, carnnuba or polymer...comments like "outshines everything I've tried" are of no use to me. thanx, Vern
I did 1/2 my car with the "other stuff" and half the car with regular wax(meguiars). Several people who did not know which half was which could not tell the difference after application, and cannot tell the difference now, several months later. That's a reason I'm very glad this conference is here, it lets me get info on other products. I very strongly suspect some of the people in the "other conference" have a financial stake in that product. If anyone wants to talk to me about this, please send e-mail, or drag me over to that conf.
I had problems with this. I used the meguiar's step 1 on it, and it took it off. I suspect gasoline would work too, but I wasn't brave enough to risk taking paint off.
This is exactly the kind of information I, and probably many other people visiting this forum find useful...thank you for passing this information along... Vern
I just call 'em as I see 'em, silvercoupe. When I am very familiar with the subject, and think that posters are not being fair, I do have a tendency to speak up with what I believe is a different, and (I hope and intend) balancing viewpoint. That doesn't mean I am right, I'm just posting my opinion, as are you.
I get in some degree of trouble on a regular basis for this behavior over in our Smart Shopper Conference where I often find myself defending some of the salesfolks who are members of our community in whom I have come to trust and believe.
:-)
Pat Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
I am sure that you are an honest person simply talking about and recommending products that you like, and that is great.
But the fact is, that you have a person who has been posting on these forums, who is a distributor of a product--but never mentions that fact, and who goes around promoting that product, denigrating other competing products....with the implication that he is simply an average consumer, rather than a person with a financial interest in said product.
Then when he gets caught (yes, caught), the take is "Wow, what honesty--here he was all along, making product recomendations and denigrating other products--and yet never told us he was a distributor of the product he was recommending. Isn't that honest?"
Incredible.
I'm sorry--but the proper term for such activity is "shilling". I guess he simply forgot to mention that he had a financial stake in the product he was raving about. Right?
Is there a more obvious bias? Too bad he got caught.
And before anybody perversely tells me that there is no foul because he didn't identify himself as a distributor--remember there are a limited number of distributors for this product and any additional business has at least a decent possibility of coming his way.
I am sure 90% of the people who post on Edmunds forums regarding their admiration for the Zaino product legitimately love it, and that is great.
Personally, I think there are better products available for the money, but to each his own.
But here you have an example of obvious shilling-and yet some people are making excuses for it.
And it has been obvious from Day 1 that this is not the only example of this type of shilling activity for the Zaino product on these forums. In fact I think you can safely say it is a "business strategy"
I give Edmunds a lot of credit for supporting keeping this separate "detailing" forum, despite a lot of criticism when myself and a few others wanted to keep it going, without the "sales pitch".
I think what you wrote is right on the money. I see it the same way.
I had never heard of the Z products until I began reading these posts about 6 months ago. It may the best thing since sliced bread, but in order to get the "full effect" it looks like I would have to drop $50-$60 in the mail to old Sal. If I am going to spend that much I need to see something in the flesh first. Otherwise, I'll just run down to my local detailer and let him wax my car while I do something else more productive with my time. I don't like to rub on my car all of the time like some people do.
#403 was deleted after I posted #404, for those of you who are wondering. pjyoung stated that he only "spends 1 hour every three months rubbing on his car".
Well, if the deal falls through, I'll scribble 'em both.....{%^)
Let's get back to posting constructive information, folks. This topic has a history of misplaced passion wholly inappropriate for the content. We're not talking exploding tires here.
Maybe it's time to retire this topic. When the "real" content gets exhausted, the only thing left to do is pick on one another, it seems.
I did a quick scan of the whole topic (quick, not thorough) and didn't see a post for Malco. Pretty decent stuff. It's one of those liquid paste waxes, with Carnauba and stuff called Zonyl (made by DuPont, most likely a softener). It doesn't have any abrasives; easy-on, easy-off type stuff. Decent price, too- no need to break the bank. Great for clear-coat. I'm not so sure about custom jobs, though.
I wasn't too sure of this stuff at first. After a few applications I'm pretty satisfied. Hasn't cost me a paint job yet. I'm not a hardcore car enthusiast, but I do like a clean, shiny car. Heck, I've used some of Meguiar's stuff, and it was okay. Not real impressed with their tire gel though. I just like Malco wax better. Anybody know more about this stuff, becaue I really don't.
I will go back and delete any of my posts from the past few days, including the ones defending those of us who have no financial stake in certain products. Please accept my apologies. I would ask anyone else who engaged in any "banter" with me to do likewise. I'm outta here and over to my "regular" forums. Please don't freeze this topic, it is a source of lots of good information.
Perhaps the 107 degree temps around here have taken their toll on me. Sorry.
Comments
I've gone through a bunch of tire dressings. Last one was Meguiars Endurance. It does last longer than most, but it is a real pain to apply evenly because it's so thick. Dries quick, though.
This leaves me still searching for that "perfect" tire dressing.
Maybe the guy you spoke to never heard of this problem, but the guy who used the Eagle One Wet Tire Shine on his new 300M contacted them and they sent him a claim form, if I remember correctly. Then, they denied the claim.
Like I said, I don't know if Eagle One makes all different kinds of tire dressings, but I don't think he used the Concours line that you keep mentioning. He told me it was the name above that he used.
Point is- everyone should read the label carefully on ANY product before applying it to their cars. I would imagine any warning labels that are present would require a magnifying glass to read. I don't know if these products have to say that they contain silicone or not. I've never used it myself because I use the other product that has no silicone.
fastdriver
BTW, I have a silver car and have had none of the stain problems with the Eagle One spray that were mentioned earlier.
I went to few shops to look for car care products and was confused by so many brands and types available.
Today I went to Costco and brought a car kit for $19.99.It contains
Meguiras cleaner wax, car wash, natural shine (for vinyl and rubber), along with Eagle One A2Z wheel cleaner, glass cleaner and Proseries simple green cleaner/degreaser. Also in the pack is a wax pad, brush, mitt, towel and the bucket.
If the above stuff is not right , what should I get ? OR should I buy some additional things along with them.
The products which I’m not comfortable in the kit are cleaner wax and wheel cleaner, also not sure of cleaner/degreaser.
I’m not sure if I got the right stuff and want your help. Also in the store was available Coral blue car wash and Meguiras gold liquid wax.
My requirement is that I want to wash car every 3-4 week and wax every 4-5 month.
What I understood about car care is first time I need to wash my car with water, then with mild car wash and then apply wax (do I need to polish also before waxing?) What about wheel cleaning and how often .
Subsequent, I should wash my car with water and should wax when beading occurs.
Your suggestions and help appreciated about proper care and right products.
For what it's worth, I get several months of good tire looks and protection with Vinylex. And it doesn't spin off.
Mr. Vivona
Regarding the Costco car care kit, I passed it up. As you stated there is no plain polish or wax, but only a cleaner wax. There is no way that I would ever use cleaner wax on my new clear coat finish. You have 3 choices regarding car polish. Wax (preferably carnuba), a polymer polish, or an acrylic polish. There may be other choices that I'm not aware of.
Carnuba wax will give your car great protection and a nice shine. The polymer products will give your car that deep wet shine look and should last longer than carnuba wax. The acrylic products will give you a good shine also and last a long time. Using acrylic is like coating your car in a thin sheet of plastic. Since my Eldorado was new, I chose not to use acrylic since I had a new clearcoat. I chose to use a good carnuba wax. A good polymer pruduct is OK also.
My question to you would be this. Does your metallic gold paint have a deep shine? Can you see your face in it? Some colors and especially most metallics will never have a deep shine. If this is the case with your car then go for protection over high gloss. If your car was red, black, dark green or dark blue then I personally would go for the shine.
Perhaps - BRETFRAZ - could give you a more professional answer.
Enjoy your Accord!
Zymol Tyre:
Very expensive (15-20 dollars a bottle-although a little goes a long way.) All natural ingredients-last about a week or two-makes the tires look new rather than the shiney look. IF you use this stuff make sure to follow the instructions on the bottle, and apply it with a sponge, rather than a cloth. Pretty much only available on-line.
303 Aerospace Protectant:
Just bought some of this stuff-haven't had a chance to use it yet. Have read some very good reviews of it at various websites. Supposed to be a polymer-based substance with no silicone oils. Can be used on interior vinyl, exterior vinyl and tires. You can check out their website to find a local retailer
http://www.303-products.com/
One Grand ERV Dressing:
Never have used it but have used other One Grand products such as Blitz wax and Omega Glaze and they are excellent.
Black Again:
Have used this stuff for about a year on the black exterior trim on my car. Contains no silicone and works great but unfortunately the company that makes it (Rhino Inductries) has gone out of business (Which is why I save it for the trim) Have still seen it sold online, however.
I've found that there is really no easy way to clean wheels-the spray on hose off stuff are solvents. On the other hand, The milder wheel cleaners such as P21S or Zymol help a little-but you still have get in every little crevice with a sponge to get them clean. Keeping the wheels waxed is your best bet-makes it easier to clean. And if you can-use a separate mitt or sponge to clean your wheels than you would use on the rest of your cars's body
Also---remember there are a lot of fine companies making high quality car care products-One Grand, Finish First, 3M, Zymol, P21S, Klasse, Meguiars, Pinnacle, Surluster and others. It's a good idea to investigate all options. Hotrod20 gave you good advice, IMHO.
What you got at Costco was not bad, but you need to know how to use them. A cleaner-wax takes a little of your paint off each time. Since you have a new car, this is not necessary, HOWEVER - it may be OK the first time to take out any slight scratches or to smooth any "orange peel". Better would be to use a "glaze", a very fine polishing compound, and then a plain wax after that. An orbital waxer makes the job much easier. I have found even the best waxes last only about 2-3 months at best, and have switched to a polymer finish that should be good for 6 months at least and provides a deep gloss that waxes cannot give. If you wax the wheels thoroughly, you will not need to use the wheel cleaner very often, it can be very caustic. The car washes are great - do NOT EVER use a household detergent on your car, except to take off old wax just before re-waxing, and then use blue Dawn.
You should also consider "claying" your car before it's first wax. This really makes a difference, even on a new car. You can read the whole story at www.erazer.com, and there are many good brands of clay.
I believe that you should re-consider washing your car more often. After 4-5 weeks, there will be a lot of crap sitting on your paint, including abrasives that can scratch and pollutants that can stain. If you get in the habit of washing your car every week, it goes really fast, and is not a lot of work. If it gets too dirty, you hesitate, and put it off even longer!
Have fun!
1. People will comment on how nice your car looks
2. You will enjoy those comments
3. You will smile as you approach a nice, clean, shiny car.
4. It's not hard to keep it clean
5. Your "wax" will last longer
6. Your car will go faster
7. Your car will run smoother
8. Your car will get better gas mileage
Okay, so 6,7, and 8 are purely subjective (although you really might see a slight improvement in mileage). Bottm line - it's not hard to do and the benifits far outweigh the negatives of weekly washing.
Hotrod20 :- I think the paint doesn’t hv too much of shininess, the one in which u can see u face.
So I should go for protection than look as u said.
Jster : Even I’m not keen on using a2z on my alloy wheels, I feel with proper washing may be I don’t need to clean wheel with some abrasive stuff or so.
Automophile & pjyoung : well I would love to wash my car more often but last week when I washed my car it took me 30 min to wash and 90 to dry so I was a bit hesitant. What’s the best method to dry the car, 100 % cotton towel or some other specialized product ?
What should I buy now a clay, a car wash, a polish and a wax.
"last week when I washed my car it took me 30 min to wash and 90 to dry so I was a bit hesitant."
WOW! WHAT are you washing? A Chevy Suburban? Something is wrong here if it takes you this long to wash and dry. I can wash my 300M in less than 30 minutes. As for drying, that only takes me minutes. First of all, I must say that I use that other product that can't be mentioned here. That said, I have no clue if that makes my washing and drying times any faster except that I don't have to spend any time rubbing crap off the car because nothing sticks to it. However, after washing, I take the nozzle off of the hose and run it over the car to get rid of the excess water. After that, I take a quick ride around the block to get the "gallons" of water out of the mirrors and other hidden places. By the time I'm back in my driveway, there is very little water left to wipe off. I do use a white, 100% cotton towel made in the USA to do this last step. If you have a wet/dry vac, most can be used as a blower to get the excess water off too.
IF I remember correctly, you said that you did not wash the car very often. THAT might be the problem because you have more work to do to get the dirt off.
I'm no expert here, but if it takes you this long to wash the car, something is wrong. I have no regular schedule to wash my car. I wash it when it's dirty. Unless I've been in stormy weather, most times I can just hose off the car to get the dust off and then dry it. This past Saturday I washed my car. Sunday night, when I was out, it rained AGAIN here in CT. I put the car in the garage that night. Monday morning when I took it out of the garage, it looked like I had just washed it. Last night I had to leave the car outside because they are doing some work in my neighborhood which is generating lots of dust! Despite this, the car looks great.
I'm going to take a picture right now and post it here- if I can remember how- so that you can see for yourself what it looks like. Stay tuned.
fastdriver
AS fastdriver said, when done rinsing, you can use the open hose end or a low pressure "fan spray" to "push" a wall of water off the car, and it takes 90% of the water with it. I then use a nice cotton bath towel to catch the remaining drops and do inside the doors, etc. 10 minutes - MAX! Windows first, then the top, hood amd trunk, then the sides and wheels.
I do 2 cars every Sunday - vacuum, windows, Pledge the interior wood and vinyl, wash and dry and treat the tires in 60-90 minutes. If you do it regularly, and have a regular pattern, it goes fast and the car always looks good!
And - as all of us fanatics know - a clean car runs better!
I like the idea about taking the car out for a fast spin to get it dry. This should save some time. Long before the California water wand came about, my neighbor used to use a window squeegee to dry his car.
This is my first car (it was my first wash :-)and still to learn the tips and tricks of the car care.
With all ur inputs, I hope I will reduce the time drastically next time and plan to wash the car every week or 10 days.
Fastdriver : I liked ur idea of taking car for a block ride to get rid of hidden water bcos when I dryed my car and drove back to carport, I was surprised to see water coming out from every nook and corner and i hv dry again.
I'm planning to buy coral car wash(my friend swear by it) and Meguiar's gold class wax( or nufinsh ?). Do I need to get glaze, should I go for Meguiar's also.
I dont plan to use the clay right now, may be after 6 month or so.
what should be the sequence dawn, glaze, wax. And subsequently car wash and wax as reqd ?
Does streaking occur during the polishing process or does it also re-occur days later when you dust off or wipe down the car?
Regards.
Your host, Bruce
However, I must be sure that your point about polymers is clarified- althought the initial purchase price may be higher than waxes in general, since they go much farther, the cost per application is the same or perhaps less than wax, and is certainly less per year, since they last longer.
Vern
And again in fairness, if you have been reading that topic which it sounds like you have, you must realize that the poster you are speaking of handled the situation in such a way, before AND after anyone knew he was a distributor, by making it impossible to realize any financial gain from his membership in Town Hall.
My thoughts here have nothing to do with trying to convince you to use one product or another, I'm just commenting on how I saw the recent situation in that topic.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
I am just stating my opinion on the situation AS I SEE IT...you have your opinions, posted many times... why do you feel it is necessary to comment on my comment? I have read many posts, many I think are ridiculous, many very informative...but, I don't think they necessarily require my response...BUT anytime someone has a financial interest in a product...how can they render an unbiased opinion about it?
thanx,
Vern
dave
dave
Vern
Vern
I get in some degree of trouble on a regular basis for this behavior over in our Smart Shopper Conference where I often find myself defending some of the salesfolks who are members of our community in whom I have come to trust and believe.
:-)
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
But the fact is, that you have a person who has been posting on these forums, who is a distributor of a product--but never mentions that fact, and who goes around promoting that product, denigrating other competing products....with the implication that he is simply an average consumer, rather than a person with a financial interest in said product.
Then when he gets caught (yes, caught), the take is "Wow, what honesty--here he was all along, making product recomendations and denigrating other products--and yet never told us he was a distributor of the product he was recommending. Isn't that honest?"
Incredible.
I'm sorry--but the proper term for such activity is "shilling". I guess he simply forgot to mention that he had a financial stake in the product he was raving about. Right?
Is there a more obvious bias? Too bad he got caught.
And before anybody perversely tells me that there is no foul because he didn't identify himself as a distributor--remember there are a limited number of distributors for this product and any additional business has at least a decent possibility of coming his way.
I am sure 90% of the people who post on Edmunds forums regarding their admiration for the Zaino product legitimately love it, and that is great.
Personally, I think there are better products available for the money, but to each his own.
But here you have an example of obvious shilling-and yet some people are making excuses for it.
And it has been obvious from Day 1 that this is not the only example of this type of shilling activity for the Zaino product on these forums. In fact I think you can safely say it is a "business strategy"
I give Edmunds a lot of credit for supporting keeping this separate "detailing" forum, despite a lot of criticism when myself and a few others wanted to keep it going, without the "sales pitch".
RE: 391 Thanks.
pjyoung-
LOL...........
fastdriver
I think we should get back to the topic of Store Bought Waxes..., before we confuse the tourists. Okay?
;-)
Pocahontas,
Town Hall Roving Host
Great to see you have a sense of humor about the whole thing, but....was there anything I wrote that was untrue?
I had never heard of the Z products until I began reading these posts about 6 months ago. It may the best thing since sliced bread, but in order to get the "full effect" it looks like I would have to drop $50-$60 in the mail to old Sal. If I am going to spend that much I need to see something in the flesh first. Otherwise, I'll just run down to my local detailer and let him wax my car while I do something else more productive with my time. I don't like to rub on my car all of the time like some people do.
1. Great minds discuss ideas.
2. Average minds discuss things.
3. Small minds discuss people.
Let's bring this topic back to it's above-average beginnings.
Your host, Bruce
Let's get back to posting constructive information, folks. This topic has a history of misplaced passion wholly inappropriate for the content. We're not talking exploding tires here.
Maybe it's time to retire this topic. When the "real" content gets exhausted, the only thing left to do is pick on one another, it seems.
Come on, give me a reason to save it.
Your host, Bruce
I wasn't too sure of this stuff at first. After a few applications I'm pretty satisfied. Hasn't cost me a paint job yet. I'm not a hardcore car enthusiast, but I do like a clean, shiny car. Heck, I've used some of Meguiar's stuff, and it was okay. Not real impressed with their tire gel though. I just like Malco wax better. Anybody know more about this stuff, becaue I really don't.
past few days, including the ones defending those
of us who have no financial stake in certain
products. Please accept my apologies. I would ask
anyone else who engaged in any "banter" with me to
do likewise. I'm outta here and over to my
"regular" forums. Please don't freeze this topic, it is a source of lots of good information.
Perhaps the 107 degree temps around here have taken their toll on me. Sorry.